Too much employee freedom can grind productivity to a halt,
according to a recent study of procrastination by Massachusetts
Institute of Technology professor Dan Ariely. He conducted time and
productivity experiments on students, including undergraduates and
well-organized, type A personalities from the university's
executive education program. The results show that imposing interim
deadlines on projects yields the best results.

Ariely found that groups with imposed deadlines do the best job,
followed by those who set their own interim deadlines. "If we
delay tasks, we clump them poorly," Ariely says. "We need
help setting [deadlines] to do it properly."

That squares with other recent studies on goal-setting, says
Steven E. Abraham, associate professor of business at the State
University of New York, Oswego. "People need a sense of
accomplishment," he says.

Next time you hand out a big assignment, set up interim
deadlines so you can keep an eye on progress. Your employees may
grouse about micromanaging, but you'll reap better work from
their time--especially if you let them know how they're
progressing at each step.

Break the Chain

War is a favorite metaphor for business. (You carpet-bomb the
market with ads; you battle for customers.) So is it any wonder
that following the chain of command is as hallowed a tradition for
many companies as it is for the military?

Maybe you should look at what's going on in today's
Department of Defense. Chain of command isn't what it used to
be. "The military is changing," says Tom Casey, principal
with Buck Consultants and former member of the armed forces.
"It is balancing discipline with encouragement to be
innovative." Some businesses are following the DOD's
lead--encouraging employees to go outside the chain of command when
issues or projects necessitate talking to you or another senior
manager.

The importance of communication, the speed of business and the
need to retain employees are all driving this change, says Casey.
More than ever, information needs to flow through your
organization, not stop with managers who may have their own
agendas.

The change could threaten your managers. Ease their comfort by
following the military's approach. Grade the manager on two
criteria, says Casey: the performance of his or her direct reports
and the unit's overall effectiveness based on its goals. Those
goals are crucial, says Lynn Summers, founder of Performaworks
Inc.: "Without the structured way to build in accountability,
you've got chaos."